Steve Nash has been named GM of Canada Basketball. (Getty Images)
A national hero has been named to a national post.

Canada Basketball announced on Tuesday that Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash has been named general manager of the organization's senior men's national team, even with no end in sight to his own NBA career.

Nash, 38, was born in South Africa but moved to Canada shortly thereafter. He captained the Canadian national team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and during qualifying for the 2004 Olympics.

CBC.CA reports that Nash is ecstatic at the thought of his new job.
"This program has meant so much to me," Nash told an afternoon news conference at Air Canada Centre. "I owe a lot of my development to the program and feel that the success I've had in my career is in large part due to my time with the national team."

"Playing for Canada at the Olympics was the greatest experience of my career, bar-none," he said. "It's no secret what this country means to me and to be a part of Canada Basketball again is a huge honour and pleasure. Now the work starts."
Nash is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer after spending the past eight seasons with the Suns and has no plans to retire. He admitted to ESPN.com that his player/executive dual roles is "a little bit odd."
"Maybe the timing of this will seem a little bit odd because I'm still playing (in the NBA), but this is about trying to impact a bunch of kids, trying to be a good resource and a source of some good. We have a lot of developing talent in our country and I'm excited to help them," Nash said.
The Vancouver Sun reports that Canada Basketball also announced on Tuesday that Rowan Barrett has been hired as the program's assistant GM. Barrett was a teammates of Nash's on the 2000 Canadian Olympics team and played professionally in Europe and South America. He previously worked as Canada Basketball's Director of Youth Development.

An immediate order of business for Nash and Barrett: Canada Basketball currently does not have a head coach, as former coach Leo Rautins resigned in September 2011.

Nash is a two-time NBA MVP, eight-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection and has led been the NBA's assists per game leader five times. During 16 seasons with the Suns and Dallas Mavericks, Nash has posted career averages of 14.5 points, 8.6 assists and 3.0 rebounds pre game.